Release Day Round-Up #18

Today is a great day for me in publishing world as a few of my favourite authors are releasing new books today and it has been hard to pick my three favourites.

You and Me, Always

Published: 28th January 2016

Publisher: Headline

Pages: 368

Available in Hardcover and on Kindle

  Order now from Amazon

On the morning of Lily's twenty-fifth birthday, it's time to open the very last letter written to her by her beloved mother, who died when she was eight.

Learning more about the first and only real love of her mum's life is a revelation. On the same day, Lily also meets Eddie Tessler, a man fleeing fame who just might have the ability to change her world in unimaginable ways. But her childhood friend Dan has his own reasons for not wanting Lily to get too carried away by Eddie's attentions.

Before long, secrets begin to emerge and Lily's friends and family become involved. In the beautiful Cotswold village of Stanton Langley, nothing will ever be the same again...

I'm about 90% finished with this book and although I'm pretty certain how it will end I have loved it, the characters are all lovely...well mostly. The plot has enough twists to make it interesting and Jill's writing is humorous, light-hearted and comforting with an added sprinkle of romance which has made this a joy to read. I will have a full review of this book tomorrow so pop back if you like the sound of it.

The Secrets of Happiness by Lucy Diamond

Published: 28th January 2016

Publisher: Pan

Pages: 352

Available in Hardback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

The best things in life . . . can be just around the corner

Rachel and Becca aren't real sisters, or so they say. They are stepsisters, living far apart, with little in common. Rachel is the successful one: happily married with three children and a big house, plus an impressive career. Artistic Becca, meanwhile, lurches from one dead-end job to another, shares a titchy flat, and has given up on love.

The two of them have lost touch, but when Rachel doesn't come home one night, Becca is called in to help.
Once there, she quickly realizes that her stepsister's life is not so perfect after all: Rachel's handsome husband
has moved out, her children are rebelling, and her glamorous career has taken a nosedive. Worst of all,
nobody seems to have a clue where she might be.

As Becca begins to untangle Rachel's secrets, she is forced to confront some uncomfortable truths about
her own life, and the future seems uncertain.

But sometimes happiness can be found in the most unexpected places . . .

I'm a huge Lucy Diamond fan so any new release of hers automatically goes on the must read pile and this is no exception it sounds like another great read. I love how her characters always have really interesting background stories just waiting to be discovered and I can't wait to find out more about Rachel and Becca.

The Birthday That Changed Everything by Debbie Johnson

Published: 28th January 2016

Publisher: HarperImpulse

Pages: 400

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

She wanted a birthday surprise, just not the one she got…

The last thing Sally Summers expected from her husband on her special day was that he’d leave her for a Latvian lap dancer half her age. So with her world in tatters, Sally jets off to Turkey for some sun, sea and sanctuary.

The Blue Bay resort brings new friends and the perfect balm for Sally’s broken heart in gorgeous Dubliner James. He’s just the birthday present she needs. And when the chemistry between them continues to spark as the holiday ends, Sally wonders if this is more than just a summer fling.

But James has scars of his own and Sally isn’t quite ready to turn her back on her marriage. This birthday might have changed everything, but what will the next one bring?

Debbie's writing is always full of fun so I'm really looking forward to reading this one over the weekend, pop back next week for a full review.

So that's my top three for this week but there are loads of brilliant books being published today. A few more that sound good are: Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty,  Our Song by Dani Atkins, We Are All Made of Stars by Rowan Coleman . So I suggest you pop down to your local bookshop and treat yourself  to one of these lovely books.

Book Review - Cold Feet at Christmas by Debbie Johnson

 

Cold Feet at Christmas by Debbie Johnson

Released: 6th November 2014

Publisher: Harper Impulse

Pages: 222

Available on Kindle

Order from Amazon now

 

 

Blurb

Running out on your wedding shouldn’t be this much fun!

A remote Scottish castle on a snowy Christmas Eve. A handsome husband-to-be. A dress to die for. It should have been the happiest day of Leah Harvey’s life – but the fairytale wedding turns sour when she finds her fiancé halfway up the bridesmaid’s skirt just hours before the ceremony!

Fleeing the scene in a blizzard, Leah ends up stranded at the nearest cottage, where she collapses into the arms of its inhabitant – a man so handsome she thinks she must have died and gone to heaven!

And when Rob Cavelli suddenly finds himself with an armful of soaking wet, freezing cold, and absolutely gorgeous bride on the run, he’s more than happy to welcome her into his snowbound cottage this Christmas…

 

 

I received a copy of this through Net Galley from Harper Impulse in exchange for an honest review.

 Cold Feet at Christmas has a lovely festive cover and a plot which sounded a whole bundle of fun and I couldn’t wait to get stuck in. Leah, the main character is having the worse Christmas Eve ever; she’s run away from her own wedding after catching groom Doug in the arms of her bridesmaid, the car she runs away in then breaks down in the middle of a snow drift. With no phone signal her only hope is walk across a snow filled field to the only light she can see.  So is it any wonder when she arrives at the cottage, bedraggled, worn out and soaking wet that when the door opens she falls straight into the arms of the extremely handsome Rob Cavelli.

Rob’s come to Scotland to escape Christmas and some demons from his past, the last thing he wants is to be disturbed but when he opens the door to a dishevelled but still beautiful Leah, something stirs in him and he can’t help but let her stay.  These two are instantly drawn to each other and it isn’t long at all before the temperature in the cottage rises and they end up in bed together.  So begins some very hot scenes as these two make the most of being snowed in at Christmas. Rob asks Leah to come back to Chicago with him and as she’s lost her husband to be, her home and her job she agrees.  Back on his home turf Rob decides he should maybe have left Leah back in Scotland as being around her is causing his emotions to go into overdrive and the guilt from his past flares up. As the two can’t handle their feelings and unable to just be friends, they start to have petty little arguments whenever they are around each other. Will they ever be able to admit their true feelings and live happily ever after?

After reading the first couple of chapters  I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this book as it just all seemed a bit ridiculous and over the top. How many people would jump into bed with a total stranger the day after their supposed wedding, not many I’m sure? I had a real issue with Leah just totally forgetting about Doug, okay he was a total idiot for sleeping with her bridesmaid but if I’d found my man messing about on our wedding day I would be DEVESTATED and probably uncontrollable with tears, not to mention angry, I would NOT jump into bed with next man I saw, no matter how hot he was.  I also had issues with Leah jumping on a plane and moving to a whole other country without telling anyone. I get that she doesn’t have much of a family but there must have been someone other than Doug who she cared about enough to talk to about leaving.

I wanted to hate Leah, but despite her man-eating tendencies and her extremely childish behaviour I couldn’t help but like her.  She seemed to always look on the bright side of things and nothing seemed to really bother her and I’m glad she was able to make a go of her life in Chicago. I didn’t like Rob, he might be gorgeous but I thought he was incredibly selfish taking Leah to Chicago as some kind of play thing and then abandoning her and being rude to her when her realised he actually had feelings for her, what a jerk! I really think his mother should have given him a good talking too and told him to grow up and stop letting his past guilt give him an excuse to be so arrogant.

I’m not exactly sure what this book has to do with Christmas, apart from the fact that Rob and Leah meet at on Christmas Eve there is nothing festive about it. No family togetherness, no forgiveness, no gift giving or anything related to Christmas, so if you looking for a book full of Christmas cheer this is not the book for you.  I think the title is very misleading, a better title might have been “Craziness in Chicago” because that about sums it up.

This book did make me laugh at the lengths Leah went to to try and get Rob to notice her.  Although I did have a number of issues with the plot and the characters I did still enjoy it.  If you are looking for a read which is light-hearted and you don’t want to take it too seriously then this could be the book for you, if you’re looking for your next Christmassy read then maybe not.

Rating 3/5